


Lead Us Not

by karuvapatta



Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Victorian, M/M, Period-Typical Homophobia, Religious Guilt, Sibling Incest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-17
Updated: 2016-01-17
Packaged: 2018-05-14 10:04:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5739526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karuvapatta/pseuds/karuvapatta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For the first time in years, Thor and Loki are in the same city, and at the same party at that. Surely this is a good time to sort out their issues.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lead Us Not

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MissNefer (thorduna)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/thorduna/gifts).



The party carried on well into the night, loud and bright, and Thor spun along with it. Out there, the world was wretched and miserable; in here, he drank and danced until his feet refused to obey him. The wine buzzed in his head and travelled along his veins, leaving him warm and light-headed.

He had not had his fill of the merriment. Neither the overabundance of food and spirits, nor the loveliest ladies in the city gliding around in elaborate, colourful dresses, and jewelled masks concealing their faces. For many, the masks were enough to drop all pretence of propriety and shame, but Thor was all too aware of the number of eyes. They were watching, all of them: the spies, the clergymen, the prudes and the servants, cataloguing every tryst for juicy gossip or outright judgement.

It was the thought that weighed on him most heavily. Alas, it could not stop him from following the curving paths in the garden, where shrubbery shielded him from prying eyes. The stars bore witness, as they always did, but Thor had never considered the sky his enemy.

Loki awaited him in the shadows, a pleased half-smile stretching his lips. Thot had caught sight of the back of his tailcoat when he disappeared from the ball-room, after charming no less than half of the lords and ladies present. It was in his looks, his easy grace, the cut of his attire sewn to match the latest fashions; his dancing, dry wit, ear for music and eye for detail, and the elaborate manner in which he spoke of his numerous travels. But none of the nobility cared to watch for his eyes, which were the eyes of a snake.

Thor would not make that mistake.

"Brother," Loki spoke. "What brings you here?"

They haven't called each other that in a decade. Not since Loki grew weary of being Lord Odin's ward and the limitations forced upon him by his adoptive family. He was well-loved and well-cared for, but that never seemed to satisfy him. Thor supposed there was not a thing upon this earth which could.

He said nothing, afraid of the wine loosening his tongue. Drink had not served him well in the past, and it was foolish to succumb to such weakness all over again.

"I had missed you," he said. "I had missed you so much."

Loki studied him, head tilted to the side. He had changed, oh so very much; his face, his voice, everything about him. It stirred something inside Thor, a deep and gnawing hunger he might be able to supress had it not been for the wine.

He put his hand on Loki's shoulder, as he was wont to do in the past. Loki did not flinch or walk away, his smile growing ever so sharper.

"Oh, Thor," he said softly. "Sentimentality bores me, you are aware of this."

The petulant lilt of his speech made Thor tighten his grip and sway closer, until their foreheads almost touched.

"It does not."

They breathed each other in, Thor's eyes drifting closed. It was the wine clouding his senses; his very own sinful nature; verily, the devil himself tempting him. But his excuses felt too weak to abate his heavy conscience.

"There are places in this very city which serve men of your appetites," Loki spoke, oh so softly, his breath brushing Thor's lips.

"None but you have a cure for what ails me," Thor said, unable to hold back the bitter rage.

"Is that so?" Loki said, with a minute shift of his body: an invitation for Thor to test his courage. And he did so, never able to resist a challenge, with careful hands brushing Loki's hands, silk shirt, the soft black hair curling around his face.

This was sin in its purest form, stripped of pretence and false promise of salvation. This was the rest of his life spent in misery and imprisonment, all for a single taste of Loki's lips. Every man he had watched executed for the crime of sodomy. He had seen their faces and wondered at their thoughts: did they think it worth it, then? The pleasures of another man's flesh, for the price of death and eternity of damnation?

Loki shivered, snapping him out of his thoughts. He had barely felt the biting cold of the night, the drink warming him along with his own racing heartbeat. But he longed to embrace Loki now, shield him from the elements and the fate that awaited them if they were to be discovered.

"Yes," Thor said, steel-like resolve having him grip Loki's chin and finally, _finally_ open his eyes. Their gazes met, their bodies aligning easily and naturally. He could see the echo of the boy he knew and the stranger that took his place, and his heart ached with how simple it would be to close the distance between them and claim Loki as his own.

But he would not lead Loki down that path. Lord knew that Loki needed no help in finding his way to Hell. But his lips looked so inviting, curving around the shape of Thor's name but not giving voice to it, as if he was afraid of saying too much; as if—

It was the drink. The wine, the starry night around them, the buzz in his veins, and the uncertainty in Loki's eyes. He did not know what to blame and was tired of looking.

But this, oh, he would not be tired of this. He pressed his lips to Loki's and found them soft and yielding, so unlike their owner. It took a prod of his tongue for the kiss to turn savage, for Loki to seize the lapels of his coat and pull forward, opening his mouth and clashing their teeth together. Inelegant, and Thor laughed – how could they be bad at this, how could they? It didn't feel like the first time; surely there was a hundred before and a hundred to follow.

He caught the back of Loki's neck, and kissed and kissed, with bruising force but a soothing press of lips right after. And Loki's own hands tangled in his hair, keeping them tightly locked. They had only managed to part when there was no more air to be had in the space between them, and drunk in the sight of each other.

"Do you believe me now?" Thor asked breathlessly. "There is no other. Loki. My—"

He paused, unsure. But Loki flashed him a wicked smile and pulled him in for a quick peck of lips, which somehow turned into another languid kiss.

"Yours," Loki said, anger lacing his words. "As I had always been, one way or another. And as you are mine—"

"I am," Thor said. "I always will be."

He did not care what would come of his promise.


End file.
